Crist
— Florida’s former Republican governor who relished the tough-on-crime
nickname “Chain Gang Charlie” and used to describe himself variously as a
“Ronald Reagan Republican” and a “Jeb Bush Republican” — on Friday
evening signed papers changing his party from independent to Democrat.

He
did so during a Christmas reception at the White House, where President
Barack Obama greeted the news with a fist bump for the man who had a
higher profile campaigning for Obama’s reelection this year than any
Florida Democrat.

The widely expected move positions Crist, 56, for another highly
anticipated next step: announcing his candidacy for governor, taking on
Republican incumbent Gov. Rick Scott and an untold number of Democrats
who would challenge him for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

Crist has been registered with no
party affiliation since the spring of 2010, when his Republican
candidacy for U.S. Senate was fizzling against Republican upstart Marco
Rubio. Since losing that race, he has been steadily inching toward the
Democratic party, first when his wife Carole switched her affiliation to
Democrat and later when he threw himself into Obama’s reelection
campaign, earning a prominent speaking slot during the Democratic
National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. More from Adam Smith here.